The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success."

Monday, November 02, 2015

Today, we have a feckless President absorbed by his post-White House
plans, amateurs or place-holders throughout the foreign policy
establishment, a self-serving nilitary, and a singularly inept
Intelligence service. And a disengaged public.

Barack Obama, elected on promises to end US wars in the Middle East, is
presiding over an unprecedented eruption of American militarism that
threatens to drag the entire region and potentially the whole world into
a military conflagration.

Friday, came news that the White House was putting ground troops in Syria and planning more US troop involvement in Iraq.

And Peter Van Buren took to Antiwar.com to whine "Tell Us Why We're At War in Iraq, Mr. President." The title, actually, may have shown more strength than the column itself. Van Buren could be find desperately whining at the end:We want to believe, Mr. President. We want to know it is not a lie.So please address us, explain why what you are doing in Iraq is
different than everything listed above. Tell us why we should believe
you – this time – because history says you lie.

At what point does either man plan to stand up?

Do they intend to act like grown ups?

Because, in a democracy, citizens are the final say.

Not politician who are nothing but overly paid servants.

They are supposed to do the bidding of the people.

so we really shouldn't beg them as if they were royalty and we were cerfs.

Again, they serve us, not the other way around.

They serve at our pleasure.

So when Barack thinks he can get away with lying and pretending combat is not taking place for US soldiers in Iraq?

He needs to be called out.

He needs to be publicly shamed and loudly rebuked.

And grown ups can grasp that.

Even if two little boys last week were too busy begging on their knees to stand upright.

These are some of the tired lines we hear from friends with shows we've slammed as they try to interest us in another look.

Life is short and, most of the time, bad shows stay bad.

They rarely get better in a later season.

So when a friend begged us to give UNDATABLE another look, we said, "Pass."

"I'm calling in a favor," was the response.

Which is how we got stuck wading through 10 episodes of the last five weeks.

10 episodes?

UNDATABLE, in its third season, has moved to live format.

And that means a live East Coast episode and, later, a live West Coast one.

If you're only going to watch one, we'd recommend the West Coast which is often sillier but also sturdier.

So the East Coast episodes are awful?

No.

Not at all.

In fact, the show is watchable.

More than watchable, it's actually funny.

We'd argue Chris D'Elia still looks as if he needs a delousing -- and that ratings would be higher if he got a hair style -- or just style.

His timing has improved. His confidence has returned.

The false bravado found in so many line deliveries in season one (we're referring to the actor's self-bravado, not his character's) have vanished.

He's almost as entertaining now as he was on WHITNEY.

Where he stumbles, where the episode stumbles, is when the opening revolves around his Danny and Brent Morin's Justin.

Smart writing would include Bianca Kajilch and/or Ron Funches in every opening scene because they have the instinct to set the comedic tone. If it's floundering a bit -- as when Morin and D'Elia are riffing off one another -- the show's uneven until Kajilch or Funches shows up.

That's not to slam the talent of either D'Elia or Morin, but it is pointing out that the comic rhythms of Kajilch and Funches tend to be truer and they walk onto the set with energy that makes you feel like something is going to happen.

Along with those four, David Fynn (Brett) and Rick Glassman (Adam) have come into their own as well.

Bridgit Mendler?

It's be great if someone would get around to writing something for the actress to actually do.

This season sees her Candace slinging some sass as Kajilch's Leslie but little more than that.

We'd missed the show but hadn't missed all the copy and talk about how bad the show is.

So imagine our surprise to discover that the show paired with UNDATABLE actually shows promise.

TRUTH BE TOLD, at its worst, recalls CBS' awful YES, DEAR. At its best, the chemistry indicates it could be something more.

Could be but probably won't.

Friday, NBC decided to cut the order for 13 episodes down to ten.

One would think Tone Bell's work as Russell alone would make them want to get on board with this show, back it and give the audience a chance to find it.

But as great as Bell is -- and he's a natural who hits every note without breaking a sweat -- the other three leads -- Vanessa Lachey, Bresha Webb and Mark-Paul Gosselaar -- hold their own and already have meshed as an acting team.

The scripts could be a little sharper, yes.

But when a group of actors finds collective chemistry, a network should sit up and notice because that's what brings the viewers in.

Friday nights, NBC's airing an hour of comedy that surprised us and, if you give it a chance, it might just happily surprise you as well.

Judy Garland was and remains the biggest star Hollywood musicals have ever seen.

It was at MGM where she played Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ. Other early MGM films found her teamed with Mickey Rooney -- and not just in the Andy Hardy films but also in their let's-put-on-a-show films.

And when the curtain came down on the MGM career, she was in another let's-put-on-a-show film.

Jane (Judy Garland) and Esme (Marjorie Main) are on the farm and losing the workers.

But nothing gets Judy down. As Jane, she just hops on a tractor and starts singing.

Well . . . one thing gets her down.

Gene Kelly showing up at her farm.

On the arm of her sister Abigail (Gloria DeHaven) who's promised Gene and company that they can use the farm to rehearse their upcoming musical.

That's a lot of people on the farm.

But in the end, only two people are drawn together.

She sings and her sister splits.

Which leaves Gene Kelly's musical without a leading lady and him without a gal.

Gene can go it alone.

Or . . . Judy can take her sister's place.

And she does it amazing well.

All works out well.

But if the film classic is remembered for just one thing, it's Judy's performance of "Get Happy."

The plot is obvious but the charm and talent of Judy and Gene (and Phil Silvers) elevate the film to a classic.

I was ambivalent about Extant until the middle of Season 2, when the story
changed direction and became something extraordinary. Despite lifting ideas
from other works, it was unique in a number of respects. One is its unusual take
on the 'hero's journey' for Halle Berry's character, involving transformation via
alien DNA. In a lesser story, it would have made her a victim or
a monster, but instead she becomes stronger and more enlightened. Instead
of making her inhuman, it enhances her humanity, potentially making her
the next step in human evolution.
The story also serves as a sucker punch directed at the part of the audience that
thinks in nativist, zero sum game, us versus them terms. What, at first appears
to be a biological alien invasion, instead becomes an allegory about everything
from refugees, to children of immigrants, to people of mixed race. Those in the
audience who sided with the Threat Assessment Algorithm and officials who wanted
to militarize the Humanics (humanoid robots) program and use them and a virus
to commit genocide against the alien-human hybrids are dealt a hard blow. I suspect
that the highly controversial nature of this theme is the reason for much of the
hatred being directed at both the series and at Halle Berry. I personally got
in a heated argument with someone at work who got angry and stopped
watching precisely at the point when Halle Berry switched sides and began
defending the hybrids.
There is also a unique element to the Humanics part of the story. On the one
hand, the robot child Ethan, develops, through life experience, more humanity than
most humans. On the other hand, Lucy, who is activated as a fully formed adult and,
without the benefit of life experience, is trained to kill, becomes a manipulative
sociopath.

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Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, "Ava" started out this site as five students enrolled in journalism in NY. Now? We're still students. We're in CA. Journalism? The majority scoffs at the notion.
From the start, at the very start, C.I. of The Common Ills has helped with the writing here. C.I.'s part of our core six/gang. (C.I. and Ava write the TV commentaries by themselves.) So that's the six of us. We also credit Dallas as our link locator, soundboard and much more. We try to remember to thank him each week (don't always remember to note it here) but we'll note him in this. So this is a site by the gang/core six: Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I. (of The Common Ills).